1Congratulating the Philomathean Society of the University of2Pennsylvania, the nation's oldest continuous collegiate3literary society, on its 200th anniversary on October 2,42013, and extending best wishes to the society for a5successful and productive future.

6WHEREAS, The Philomathean Society of the University of7Pennsylvania was founded on October 2, 1813, and strives to8uphold its mission of "increasing the learning of the members9and the academic prestige of the University"; and

10WHEREAS, The society exhibited remarkable intellectual11capacity and ambition when three undergraduate members published12the first accurate translation of the Rosetta Stone in 1858; and

13WHEREAS, The society has achieved an unparalleled record of14service to the University of Pennsylvania and the public by15sponsoring numerous scholarly publications, lectures, panel16discussions and afternoon teas with prominent professors, as17well as poetry readings, film screenings, dramatic performances,18art shows, debates, special classes and annual orations by19renowned public intellectuals, all of which are free and open to

2WHEREAS, The society has trained generations of our nation's3leaders, including three United States Senators, seven United4States Representatives, two Cabinet officers, three ambassadors,5two governors, six generals and enumerable local legislators,6judges, lawyers, doctors, authors, editors, scientists,7ministers and educators, through the exercises it provides8members in writing, speaking and thinking; and

9WHEREAS, It is a testimony to the dedication and wisdom of10the students of the University of Pennsylvania that they have11supported the society over two centuries when only a handful of12the great literary societies that were once represented at13nearly every American campus have survived; therefore be it

14RESOLVED, That the Senate congratulate the Philomathean15Society of the University of Pennsylvania, the nation's oldest16continuous collegiate literary society, on its 200th anniversary17on October 2, 2013, and extend best wishes to the society for a18successful and productive future.